Leading from behind hands Syrian rebellion to al Qaeda

NY Times:

Syrian Rebels Tied to Al Qaeda Play Key Role in War


The United States faces a challenge, as some of the best fighters in an uprising that it wants to support belong to a group that it considers a terrorist organization.
We have squandered the chance to have a greater impact on the forces trying to overthrow Assad and set ourselves up for the next war.  To a large extent this flows from Obama's hasty retreat from Iraq which allowed al Qaeda to reassert itself and then send its fighters to help overthrow Assad.  Obama's "smart diplomacy" has gone from one screw up to the next.  For the Syrians they face going from bad to worse if al Qaeda is able to take advantage of the chaos created by the overthrow.

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